IT was 'Just Like Heaven' for Market Rasen jockey Duran Fentiman when he rode home a horse of that name for his latest win at Carlisle this week.
The 25-1 shot was the 14th winner of the season for Fentiman, with most of them coming on horses trained by Malton trainer Tim Easterby.
And with his success on two £100,000-plus races on 'Body and Soul' in 2012, Fentiman, knew just what was needed on the two-year-old with real sprinting prospects.
Fentiman, who had won on the horse at Thirsk earlier in the season, said: "She was covered up until the final furlong at Beverley but when no gap appeared, I pulled her wide and in the final half furlong went into overdrive, passing several horses and nailing the leader close to the line to win by a neck.
"The horse was taking the mick in the early part of the race and I didn't think the cheek pieces were making any difference.
"I gave her a tap and she realised what she had to do. She was running on strongly but had nowhere to go until I pulled her out. When she had a clear run she readily responded and was still full of running after the line."
Fentiman's biggest win this season came last month when Ventura Mist won the big race at Beverley for the Barton-on-Humber based Middleham Park Racing.
The £15,000 'Hillary Needler Trophy' was run over the minimum trip of five furlongs for fillies.
Ventura Mist has soft ground form from earlier races and this proved vital as it had not stopped raining for 24-hours in the lead up to the race.
Another Tim Easterby trained horse – Arc Light – gave Fentiman a further win at Newcastle on Saturday.
Speaking from his base at Malton, Fentiman added: "Ventura Mist was definitely my biggest win of the year. I keep chipping away and have 14 winners so far this season.
"It was an important race for two- year-old fillies. I also had two good wins on Lilac Lace, both at Newcastle.
"Body and Soul, who gave me my big race wins in 2012 will find it tougher this year racing against older horses though."
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